


boys of summer

by andnowforyaya



Category: B.A.P, K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, M/M, cameos from btob and teen top
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-03
Updated: 2013-12-03
Packaged: 2018-01-03 08:15:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1068147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andnowforyaya/pseuds/andnowforyaya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daehyun is just the really loud and dumb and annoying other junior counselor at the sleep-away camp where Youngjae is working this summer, and Youngjae can't stop thinking about him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	boys of summer

"I say we split up, close in on the borders. We get some of the kids to come with us to cover. Junhong and Jongup can't hide forever." Daehyun was chewing a piece of gum in his mouth; Youngjae watched the joint of his jaw work and glared.

 

"That's ridiculous," he hissed. "There's no coverage between here and there. We'll have huge targets on our backs as soon as we leave this position."

 

"If you were a faster runner, this wouldn't even be a problem."

 

"I'm fast enough, you big--"

 

One of the kids came up behind them, then, a twelve-year-old boy with twigs for arms. His name was Minhyuk and his mother had put him into summer sleep-away camp so that he'd stop playing computer games twenty-four hours a day and talk to other real, living children. He was one of Youngjae's, and to be perfectly honest, Youngjae was proud of how much he'd matured in just four short weeks. He still talked like a general leading his soldiers into battle, though.

 

The thing was, this camp was a little much, in Youngjae's view. He took the job because he needed the money, but he could almost certainly tell the the children attending these camps would never have to consider taking a job simply because they needed the money. These were all city kids who lived in high-rises in the affluent districts.

 

"…dummy," Youngjae finished lamely.

 

Daehyun giggled. He adjusted the vest he was wearing to protect against the possible battering of exploding paintballs.

 

"What's the plan?" Minhyuk asked them, imitating their crouch. They were behind a pile of old crates that the camp had set up. The paintball game had been arranged as a kind of celebration marking the beginning of the end. Camp was over tomorrow, and this was their last hurrah. They'd used a clearing they found in the woods behind the cabins as the battlefield, complete with obstacles and hide-aways. 

 

The lead counselors, Yongguk and Himchan, had decided to split up the junior counselor teams this way - Jongup and Junhong on Yongguk's team versus Daehyun and Youngjae on Himchan's. Youngjae wasn't sure why they thought pairing him and Daehyun together would be a good idea. Their first meeting on the first day of camp hadn't gone too well, Daehyun immediately commenting on the soft fluffiness of Youngjae's cheeks and laughing, and then it hadn't gotten any better the more camp progressed.

 

They were each in charge of five boys in their respective cabins, and they bickered in nearly every camp session they had together: archery quickly turned into a competition between the two, art into a challenge, the ropes course into a wager. Once, during everyone's lunch hour, they raced each other swimming in the pool because Daehyun thought Youngjae's pasty arms probably couldn't drag his weight through the water.

 

Youngjae would like to note that they had been, throughout it all, pretty evenly matched.

 

He would also like to note that he  _did not_  examine the rivulets of water trailing down Daehyun's torso when he pulled himself out of the pool that day, nor did he appreciate the way Daehyun's triceps shadowed his arms when he drew back the string of the bow during archery. And right now, he was definitely not admiring how Daehyun's lips curled into a cheshire-like grin, how the exhilaration of the game was creating this flush on his cheeks, how he looked down at Minhyuk and said, indulgently, "I hear you're an expert, here. Why don't you tell us?"

 

Because those were the kinds of thoughts that were coupled with harsh names and merciless teasing. Youngjae had always been a little soft, he supposed, preferring his books to sports and literature to people. Other kids, when he was younger, picked up on that quickly and called him things like  _pansy_  or worse. Definitely worse, as they got older.

 

He looked at Minhyuk. Minhyuk grinned. By now, Youngjae knew how much the boy liked to talk about his battle strategies in the game he played online at home. It was good of Daehyun to give him the opportunity.

 

Minhyuk paused, considering. Youngjae imagined various scenarios whizzing past his brain. Finally, the camper said, "Well, the goal is to get Counselor Junhong and Counselor Jongup, right? So if we…"

 

.

 

In the end, they didn't win. One of Daehyun's campers had tripped on the way in, alerting the other team of their location, and things had descended from here. Youngjae still couldn't believe the dramatics that Daehyun had managed, even shoving Youngjae out of the way at one point to take a bullet for him and pretend to die, complete with swooning and last confessions.

 

"I will always remember…" he'd said, trailing off, before convulsing one last time and kicking the bucket. All the campers had laughed. The game was over by then, anyway, but Jongup had finished them off by shooting Youngjae square in the chest with a pink paintball, since Youngjae was far too distracted by Daehyun's ridiculous acting.

 

Team Yongguk had won, which meant they got to choose dessert for the day. They picked chocolate cake, and it turned out not to be a big deal because that was probably what Team Himchan would have picked, anyway.

 

"No, but seriously," Youngjae assured Minhyuk, who was pouting a little into his dessert. "That was a great plan. Only flaw was Daehyun, really."

 

"Counselor Daehyun's funny," Minhyuk said. "I wish you'd stop being so mean to him."

 

Youngjae drew back, surprised. Some of his other campers turned to observe their conversation, eyes wide and eager. "I'm not mean to him," Youngjae protested.

 

Daehyun's group were sitting at another table across the dining area, which was really an open-air kitchen and buffet line under a wooden roof, with circular tables spaced out on the floor. He could see Himchan and Yongguk on their laptops at Junhong's table, probably sending out reminder emails to the parents who would need to pick up their children the next day.

 

"You are, a little bit," Minhyuk insisted. The other campers nodded. 

 

One boy, Sungjae, piped up. "He always wants to play with you but you always look like this when he asks." Sungjae imitated Youngjae's glare, narrowing his eyebrows and jutting out his lower lip.

 

"That's just my face!" Youngjae insisted.

 

"It hurts his feelings," Sungjae posited wisely.

 

"Daehyun doesn't have feelings other than silly and loud," Youngjae immediately responded.

 

"See!" Minhyuk pointed his dessert spoon at Youngjae. "You're doing it again! Also,  _loud_  is not a feeling."

 

Youngjae blushed. His campers all stared at him, expectant. "You're all ridiculous," he said glumly.

 

"You should apologize to him," Sungjae suggested, digging into Minhyuk's dessert now that he was done with his own. "My mom says to say you're sorry even if you don't know what it's for, because it will make the other person want to help you."

 

"That's…twisted," Youngjae acknowledged. "But fine."

 

Minhyuk clapped.

 

"Fine. I'll talk to him later, okay?"

 

His campers cheered, banging their little fists on the table and making a huge ruckus. 

 

Across the hall, Daehyun looked over at his table and met his eye. Youngjae gulped at the smirk Daehyun had on his face.

 

.

 

That evening was movie night. In a final show of camp unity, Yongguk and Himchan had organized for a projector to be set up at one end of the dining area, for the tables and chairs to be removed, and for a string of family-friendly movies to play on the screen.

Everyone would bring their sleeping bags into the makeshift theater and spread out as they wanted, within reason. The space was just large enough to fit twenty children and six mostly full-grown young men and their sleeping bags, and also a few strategically placed bowls of fresh popcorn. Sometime between dinner and the movie, Yongguk and Himchan had even placed mosquito netting from the roof to minimize insect interaction. Youngjae would miss them, he realized, when camp was over. Yongguk and Himchan were exactly the kind of hyungs he had always wanted, growing up.  The movie began without incident. Everyone had changed into their pajamas, and all the campers had brought in their sleeping bags and now the wood floor looked more like a mosaic quilt. Eventually all the chit chat died down as everyone became absorbed in the movie, and the only sounds then were the rustles of the sleeping bags when the kids got restless, and the crunching of popcorn.Youngjae looked back at where he knew Daehyun would be sitting. The other counselor had his knees drawn up and his arms loosely wrapped around them. The light from the projected movie reflected off his face. One of his campers, whom Youngjae knew as just Joe, was leaning heavily on Daehyun, fast asleep. He watched for a moment too long. When he looked up, Daehyun was already focused on him, and they met each other's gaze immediately.Youngjae colored, but tilted his head anyway, toward the exit at their left. Daehyun raised his eyebrows in response. Youngjae tilted his head again, with a bit more force. Daehyun shrugged.Youngjae huffed, rolled his eyes. Of course Daehyun hadn't understood. This time, Youngjae pointed at the exit and mouthed, exaggerated,  _I want to talk_.Daehyun squinted at him. Then he looked down at Joe, then back at Youngjae.  _Okay_ , he mouthed back _. Let me ask._ More gently than Youngjae would have thought possible, Daehyun extricated himself from Joe and laid him down on his own sleeping bag. Then he stood, hunched, and padded his way to the side, where there were fewer children. Himchan was sitting near the edge in a chair, overseeing. Youngjae watched the two of them exchange a few quick words, and followed Daehyun when he pointed at him. Himchan nodded.Together, they left the dining area. Youngjae led them on a meandering path, not quite knowing where to go or how to start, but they ended up at the pool. They entered through the gate quietly, the water still. Youngjae sat at the edge of the pool, watching the slight ripples in the water when there was a breeze break up the reflection of the moon. There was little light here that was unnatural.He'd thought for sure that by now Daehyun would be vibrating with the need for conversation, but when he looked Daehyun had mirrored him and taken a seat close to him. He pulled off his sandals and dangled his feet into the water, silent.The crickets were loud out here. Faintly, Youngjae could hear the high sounds of the movie playing. Daehyun sighed just as Youngjae cleared his throat.They glanced at each other, the silence of the evening like something precious that could break. This time tomorrow, Youngjae would be back in his apartment with his parents, who argued as often as they breathed, and Daehyun would be back--Well, he wasn't absolutely certain. He had a vague impression that Daehyun wasn't from Seoul, and that his family was actually just his mother. He would be leaving tomorrow with Himchan, while Youngjae and the others caught a ride with Yongguk back to Seoul."You ready for tomorrow?" Youngjae began, finally. Daehyun swished the water around with his legs."I can't believe it's already been a month," he said, which didn't really answer the question."You're going back to...?""Gyunggi-do," he finished for him. "Home sweet home." 

 

Youngjae could tell he was smiling as he said the words even without looking at him. And it was difficult to look at him, Youngjae quickly realized, because this could be one of the last times, because Daehyun had somehow occupied more space in his brain this summer than his campers had. He found himself wondering suddenly what Daehyun did in his free time during the year, what his grades were, what his friends were like. If there was someone who during the school year Daehyun challenged to foot races and pinched his cheeks after.

Youngjae shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Must be nice," he managed after a delay.Daehyun said, "I'm pretty sure you didn't drag me out here to talk about our hometowns, though?" He stopped swishing his legs, but the water continued to ripple.Youngjae took a breath, and then he let out all the words on an exhale. "The kids say I'm mean to you and want me to apologize so I guess I'm sorry even though I don't think I've been mean to you at all."Youngjae flushed again. He'd only meant to say sorry."Well, that was sincere," Daehyun teased. He was laughing."I mean," Youngjae continued, "have I been mean to you?""Brutally," Daehyun said. "I don't know how I'll survive after tonight with your harsh words in my mind."Youngjae nudged him with his shoulder. Daehyun nudged him back. It was nice."Can I be honest?" Daehyun asked. His voice carried a hopeful note to it, higher than usual."Yeah?"Daehyun sighed again, looking out over the pool. Then his gaze shifted up, to where the moon was full and bright. "I thought we were flirting," he mumbled.Youngjae's heart stopped. His first thought was of all the names he'd been called growing up and, resigned, that Daehyun must have picked up on them, too. He was playing a joke on him. He was being cruel. He nearly fell into the water.Daehyun's eyes were wide and round as he placed a steadying hand on Youngjae's shoulder. "Okay?" Daehyun began frantically. "So I guess I was wrong. Totally wrong. Sorry. Just forget I said that. Rewind. Wow, we were talking about our hometowns, right?"His second thought was that Daehyun was not being cruel, just adorably blunt and forward, and so Youngjae tried something.He leaned forward and kissed him. It shut him up. He liked the way Daehyun's lips felt against his own, soft and slightly chapped. A boy's lips. When he pulled back, that shocked expression on Daehyun's face still hadn't left."I didn't come out here to talk about our hometowns," Youngjae echoed."Is this a dream?" Daehyun asked, somewhat hysterically. "Did I fall asleep? Can you do that again?"Youngjae hooked a finger under Daehyun's chin and guided their lips together again. This time, he felt Daehyun shift, his hands coming up to Youngjae's waist. He pushed forward a little, and Youngjae fell back into his elbows, and Daehyun followed, water splashing against the side of the pool as he drew his legs out. Soon Youngjae was coaxed onto his back, Daehyun's arms on either side of him, his body fitting nicely between Youngjae's legs. They kissed like that for a while, and Daehyun breathed against Youngjae's cheek, "We could have been doing this the whole time.""No," Youngjae said, grinning. "I like the way this happened."Daehyun blew a raspberry into Youngjae's neck and Youngjae cackled, ticklish. "As long as it happened," Daehyun said..Daehyun's legs were completely dry by the time they got back to the mess hall. Thirty minutes had passed. The first movie was over and they were onto their second. Himchan glared at them both as they crept in, but Yongguk, on the other side, was already asleep. One camper, Ilhoon, was drawing on Yongguk's exposed knee with a permanent marker.Himchan beckoned Daehyun over before they could reach their sleeping bags, and they parted ways then. Minhyuk was bouncing in his seat and watching Youngjae more than he was watching the movie. "Did you apologize?" the boy immediately asked as soon as Youngjae sat down. He latched himself to the counselor's arm."We worked it out," Youngjae said, ruffling Minhyuk's hair..

**Author's Note:**

> This was for [a nice anon](http://andnowforyaya.tumblr.com/post/67527098764/hey-i-like-your-fanfic-very-much-the-daejae-one-i). Come visit me [at my tumblr](http://paperkrane.tumblr.com) or [leave me a prompt!](http://andnowforyaya.tumblr.com/ask)


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